SirMjac28Patiently Waiting For The Next British InvasionGold Supporting Member

Yeah, I remember this one well. My friends and I were big Kiss fans in high school, and must have watched the video of this concert literally a couple of hundred times.

Not much substance there. But Gene gets his attention, it gets the crowd energized, and it gives the band a short break--I don't think it's about much more than that.

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+1 I don't think there has been another musician who understood the theater of rock more than Gene and you have to remember what time period this was there weren't many bassists busting out bass solos of any kind very cool stuff and those Kiss fans were so amped up he could have sat on a stool and smoked a cigarette for fifteen minutes.

I was a big Kiss fan in the early days Genes Bass lines were more horn line fills during power chords walking bass lines and triad chord fills back then were a back part of the formula that brought those songs to life
I would like to share this Live bootlegged show they did in 1973 it is as raw as it gets you kiss guys are going to love it a few songs I would bet you never heard ever

Saw them in March of '86, WASP opened. Not sure if the bass solo I remember is from then or a couple of years later. It went EE GG EE GG EE GG EE GG EE *pause, fireworks shooting out of the headstock*, EE GG EE GG....

IMHO I have zero interest in playing any "un-accompanied bass solos" in any kind of ROCK band- I mean really think about it- what makes a ROCK band rock?

it is a COMBINATION of Drums, Bass and Guitar/Vocals all working together as a unit, with spots for each to shine- IE Guitar Solos, Drums Breaks/Intros, Bass Fills, Intros.

IT is very hard to keep the audiences interest for any length of time with any one piece. I don't really even care for drum solos- to me they are a waste of concert time that would be better served by playing another song- especially RUSH. I've seen Peart do almost the same drum solo 10 times now! At 10 minutes a pop it adds up. ANd he is the BEST one!

I prefer to play a small bass intro to a song, or some cool fills, or just rock with the drums. At the beginning of this he sounds weak, when the drums come in, he sounds better, but IMO he should have segued this into one of the better Kiss bass songs, like King of the Nighttime World or something.

Bass on its own just is missing something- even for the masters like Marcus- it gets boring when their band drops out real quickly. I like when they play a bass intro to start a song, but honestly any bass "solo" for more than 1 minute is too long IME. (and I mean true solo, if you are grooving with the drummer, COMPLETELY different story)

Gene Simmons is a legend, and not to mention, far more intelligent than most people think. I actually think his playing sounds pretty good in this clip, and personally have a ton of respect for the guy. Cheers, Gene!!

If people understood that Gene is an entertainer, not a musician and set their expectations accordingly, there would be a lot less Gene bashing. At least he doesn't stand there pounding out roots and claim to be 'serving the song.' Actually I don't think he's a bad player at all. I've heard plenty of bass players that couldn't play OR entertain.

Gene has chops. He chooses to not show them very often because they're alienating to the majority of his fans. Kiss was about to transform itself into a serious metal band, but Gene and Paul were negotiating secretly with Criss and Frehley to reunite. Carnival of Souls was scrapped; I saw Bruce Kulick at NAMM and asked him if the album was in the can, meaning finished.

"It's in the can, all right," he said. "The garbage can."

The album was only released after bootleg copies had begun appearing.

Taking a giant leap forward can be terrifying. I understand why right at the moment when Kiss could've become something else, Gene and Paul chose to backward. Reuniting the band and going back to wearing makeup was the safe option. But I wonder what would've happened if if Kiss had kept evolving.

But I know what it's like to be afraid of failure. A very well-known bassist agreed to let me ghostwrite his memoirs. We had a publishing contract and everything. It would've been an amazing book, but he backed out at the last second. He was afraid no one would buy it, and his self-esteem couldn't take a hit like that.

What you have to do is fail at EVERYTHING first. Then you're no longer afraid to take chances.

I loved them in the 70s but haven't liked anything they've done since then. I have seen them over a dozen times. First was in February 1978, them again the following year. The last time was a few years ago. They spent a lot of time in between songs and Paul's voice was terrible. He was flat and screechy all night. I have a recording off the board from that show and it's amazing how bad Paul's singing is now. I think Gene is underrated as a bass player. He is much better than people give him credit for even if the solo posted by the OP isn't a great example of his playing. It was focused on theatrics than anything else and its obvious that they audience ate it up.

I remember when I saw this very concert first air on MTV when I was in 7th grade. Loved it then, still dig it now.

Yes, the bass solo is ridiculous. That's what makes it so enjoyable for me to watch. Here are some more "solos" by Gene that are even worse (or better).

Michael Anthony also has some ridiculous bass solos, but they are entertaining.

IMO, if anyone is ridiculous enough to do a bass solo in the first place, it might as well be silly and over the top. I'd rather watch a Gene or Michael bass solo any day over one by Jaco or Wooten.

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the first one is lol. but i don't think you know..this was intended to be a bass solo regardless of what the title on youtube says. I guess solo is fitting though in a way, it was one note. the second one was more theatrics than solo. As for Michael Anthony, don't know what to make of it but again it seemed to be more about theatrics than playing an interesting solo